1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image forming device that can overwrite firmware.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, image forming devices such as printers, copy machines, and facsimiles, where, for example, two controllers are connected to each other via communication interfaces to enable communication are well known as disclosed in JP-A-1996-161231. According to the image forming device disclosed in the same, when an image signal is transmitted from an external device such as a host computer or an integrated scanner to a main controller, the main controller analyzes and performs various image processing for it, and transmits the image-processed signal (for example, a video signal) to an engine controller. Having received the signal, the engine controller, having a central processing unit (CPU) and rewritable nonvolatile memory (e.g., flash ROM or EEPROM) for storing firmware, controls an engine based on firmware stored in the nonvolatile memory and forms an image corresponding to the image signal on a sheet of copy paper, transfer paper, or normal paper, or a transparent OHP sheet.
The reason why the firmware is stored in the rewritable nonvolatile memory is to make the firmware flexible to future additional functions and version-upgrades. In other words, when an additional function or version-upgrade is needed, new firmware having the additional function is created to overwrite old firmware with.
According to a conventional method for overwriting firmware, a service person connects a predetermined device, which is a dedicated administrator device, to an image forming device and transmits new firmware from the predetermined device to a main controller in the image forming device. The main controller and an engine controller then communicate with each other via a communication interface using a communication function of existing firmware in the engine controller, thereby updating the existing firmware in nonvolatile memory in the engine controller with the new firmware.
Meanwhile, as disclosed in JP-A-2004-191783, another method for updating firmware has been proposed. According to this method, a small storage unit having firmware (a control program) stored therein is previously loaded in a toner bottle and when the toner bottle is set in an image forming device, the firmware is transferred from the small storage unit to the image forming device, thereby updating existing firmware. With this method, it is possible to update the firmware just by setting the toner bottle in the image forming device, eliminating the need for a service person, and the need for a user to have to worry about version-upgrades.